Located alongside Dumbarton Road (the A814) in the centre of Clydebank, the International Asbestos Memorial commemorates those killed both in the town and around the world through exposure to the mineral asbestos. Many victims of this debilitating and ultimately fatal lung condition remained undiagnosed or unknown. Commissioned by the Clydebank Asbestos Group, who support local people with this condition, it is the work of Glasgow-based artist and sculptor Jephson Robb and comprises five vertical mirrored slabs with names inscribed. It was unveiled on 30th May 2015 by Fiona Maguire, the widow of Frank Maguire, who had fought for recognition and justice for sufferers.
Asbestos was widely used in the Clydebank ship-building industry, its fire-retardant properties making it ideal as boiler and pipe insulation. Asbestos was widely processed in the West of Scotland, with Turner's Asbestos Company constructing a factory in Dalmuir in 1938, making asbestos cement products for the construction industry. At its peak this plant employed 320 people before closing in 1970. These uses have left a dreadful legacy in the town. Asbestos was eventually banned in the UK in 1999, 75 years after the first recorded asbestos-related death of Nellie Kershaw, a worker at Turner's asbestos spinning mill in Rochdale (Lancashire).
Close by are Clydebank Railway Station and Clydebank Museum and Art Gallery.
